Hey. So I thought since you’ll be reading something of mine, I should introduce you to the kinds of books I write…
ONE OR THE OTHER
I write in two camps. Either quirky rom coms or dark and creepy thrillers…
YOUNG ADULT
Not a hard rule but for the most part I write in YA. The reason for that is because my natural narrative voice is very teenager-ish (you can look back on this blog for reference haha). Most of my characters tend to be 16, 17, 18. But not always.
MILD ON THE SCOVILLE SCALE
I also write in the PG-13 zone. I have a Mormon background but my characters do not. They drink, break the law, and have tasteful fade to black scenes with each other. Full discloser to my family: I write swear words into my manuscripts. I don’t like to drop F bombs though. It’s not even because that word offends me, I just think that it’s overuse in modern media has made it a bit blasé. (unpopular opinion?) … My John Lennon book is not historically accurate when it comes to the disappearance of F words hahaha.
TIME TRAVEL IS A REOCCURING THEME
I am obsessed with all stories time travel!! A trait I inherited from my family. So that inherently makes a lot of my work ‘sci-fi’. I write very soft science fiction, I don’t try to explain the technology that makes time travel work, it just does. (“The flux capacitor is what makes time travel possible” kind of thing.)
NO SERIES OF SERIES
I tend to write standalone stories and shy away from sequels or trilogies. I’m grossly picky when it comes to sequels (books, movies, TV even). I feel that so often the writer does not stay loyal to the world that they built in the first installment. Magic systems get convoluted, new romances seem arbitrary and forced, and big characters become unrecognizable … I think it can be done well and HAS been done well. But I think the way to do it is to write it in conjunction with the first book (or season/movie) so things are properly set up. (Or at the VERY LEAST have an IDEA of where it would go next.) That’s the only way I would personally be comfortable doing a sequel.
MAY REMIND YOU OF…
If you grew up with me, you probably know how much I love the original Twilight Zone. Richard Matheson and Rod Serling are major influences on my writing, and I love to add twists. My short stories often have that trademark “punchline twist” that was made famous by The Twilight Zone. I also have a big background in theater and have loved and been influenced by many playwrights. Because of this my work tends to be dialogue forward since my earlier writings were mostly scripts and sketches. But I’m learning to be more of a novelist, I swear! One other major influence is my love of eighties movies. I once had an editor in the industry compare my writing to John Hughes and it was the best compliment I could ever receive!
TEST DRIVE IT YOURSELF
If you haven’t heard I’m putting out a novel for free three weeks from now! Love Me Do is a good introductory to things that I write because it’s somehow nestled in between my two camps. It’s both a quirky rom com AND has time travel and dark elements (she has to kill him if he doesn’t propose to her in 100 days). It was also written in a very similar comedic style to that of my blog posts. So if you already liked what I’ve been posting you’ll probably like this book! I’ll be putting out one chapter at a time every Thursday morning for the following six months!
Thank you so much for all your support already! I’m super nervous to be putting a book out there. Especially one that I know isn’t my best work and… you know, happens to be a silly Beatles fanfic (basically). But it’s a start and a step forward. If nothing else just to get my voice out there and give my words validation to be. If you would like to follow along and be notified of when new chapters release you can enter your email address below.
valmanwill.com 